Railway-car.



B. J. LESLIE.

RAILWAY GAR.

urmou on FILED my 2, 1908 905,820. Patented Dec. 1, 190

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN J. LESLIE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNO R; OF ONE-HALF TO S. JOSEPH SARKEYS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

RAILWAY-CAR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 1, 1908.

Application filed May 2, 1908. Serial No. 430,517.

To all whom "it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMlN J. LESLIE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in. the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Railway-Car, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to elevated railway cars, and has for its principal object to provide a structure in which damage and loss of life through derailment will be practi- -cally impossible.

The object of the invention is to provide a novel form of car in which the car is approximately in the form of an inverted U so as to straddle the elevated rail or rails, and thus prevent derailment, the bottoms of the cars being elevated at such distance from the ground as to prevent injury to persons or animals while the car is traveling, so that the entire area of the ground, except that necessary for the pillar foundations will be unobstructed and may be used for ordinary purposes.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a novel form of double deck car of such construction as to permit ready access to all of the compartments, and in which the entrance and exit doors are arranged at a point midway of the height of the car, so that entering passengers may descend a few steps into the lower compartment, or ascend a few steps to reach the upper compartment.

lVith these and other objects in view, as will more fully hereinafter appear, the inveution consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts, hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompai'iying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportions, size and minor details of the structure may be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the adxantagcs of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings :Figure 1 is a transverse sectional view of an elevated railway car constructed in accordance with the invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation with parts broken away of a car used in the railway structure.

Similar numerals of reference are e ployed to indicate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

The rail supporting structure may be formed of structural iron, reinforced con crete, or other suitable materials, and comprises generally a plurality of pillars 10 that are spaced at suitable intervals in accordance with the weight to be supported, these pillars being connected at the top by a frame 11, which is widened laterally, so that the structure is approximately T-shaped in cross section and is provided at its outer most edges with beams 12, generally in the form of I-beams or other well known structural shape. The pillars are arranged at intervals only, so that the surface of the ground may be utilized for other purposes and grading is not necessary in order to maintain the upper beams 12 in horizontal position, inasmuch as the pillars may be made of different heights when the road is built over rolling ground, so that the expense of cuts and fills is avoided.

On top of the frame, and preferably secured to the beams 12 are rails 15 which may be of theordinary construction and spaced at any suitable distance from each other, and these rails are connected by transversely disposed cross braces 16, and by suitable tie bars 17 extending throughout the entire length of the line, so as to prevent displacement of the rails.

The cars 20 are generally of inverted U shape in cross section, and are arranged to straddle the supporting structure, and each car is divided into an upper compartment 21 and two lower compartments 22, the inner walls of these latter compartments being shaped to conform to the general contour of the supporting structure and are' spaced therefrom so as to prevent engagement with the structure should there be any slight sidewise sway of the cars. It is furthermore found advantageous to arrange the inner wall of these compartments on convex lines, so that the space gradually widens from the center toward the ends of the cars, thus permitting the cars to travel around curves of comparatively small radius.

Each of the car trucks comprises upper and lower parallel bars 26 and 27, the ends of which are connected to boxes 28 that receive the ends of the wheel axles 29, and the bars are connected at points between these boxes by bracing bars 30 so arranged as to form a perfectly rigidstructure.

In practice, the two axles 29, each carrying a pair of wheels 32, are considered sufficient for the support of each car, and the side frames of the truck are connected together by cross bars 34:, the outer ends of which extend downward and thence outward, practically in horizontal alinement with the wheel axles, as shown in Fig. 1, so as to support the outer sides of the car.

In each of the boxes 28 is arranged a bearing 36 that receives the projecting end of the axle, and the upper portion of this block is guided in a vertical recess formed in the box, a suitable spring 37 being interposed between the block and the top of the box, said spring being in the form of a solid block of rubber or the usual coiled springs may be employed, if desired. The outer end of each axle projects beyond the bearing block into a lubricant chamber 38 which may be filled with waste saturated with any of the well known lubricants, the top of the lubricating chamber being provided with a hinged or other removable cover 39.

The main flooring 40 of the upper compartment 21 runs along the sides of the car, and above this is a step or platform ll that extends across the center of the car and carries a double seated structure 42 having a vertically disposed central back 43, so that the passengers on the seats will face the windows at the sides of the car. The seats are preferably hinged, so that access may be had to the truck and to the motor 43 where individual motors are employed on the car, the apparatus being capable of use for individually propelled cars or trains of cars having a motor at one end. The central step or platform ll terminates short of both ends of the car, and from this point the main flooring 40 extends into the end compartments l6, each of which may contain a controller and brake applying mechanism, and in which the motorman is stationed.

In the lower compartment 22 are arranged seats 50 so that the passengers occupying the seats may face the windows at the sides of the car, and between the lower compartments and the upper compartments are arranged stairways which are divided by a central 1 platform 53 at each end of the car into two sections. The lower set of steps 54 extend l lengthwise of the compartments 22 so that in ascending toward the platform 53, the passengers travel toward the ends of the cars. The upper section 55 extends transversely so that passengers ascending from the platform 53 walk toward the longitudinal center of the car.

011 both sides of each end of the car are entrance doors 5?, the bottoms of which are on a level with the platforms 53, so that the lower portion of the door way opens into the lower compartment, and the upper portion into the upper compartment, but when a passenger enters he can see into both compartments and readily ascend into the upper or de. cend into the lower, this arrangementbeing, also, convenient for the conductor, in collecting fares.

At the stations along the line, the platforms are arranged on the level of the stair platforms 55, and the stations are so arranged that the passenger may enter at either side, although on a double track road the doors at one side of each car are preferably locked, and the platforms are come spondingly arranged.

I claim 1. In a double deck car, an entrance platform arranged between the upper and lower decks, -a door or gate controlling the entrance to the platform, a descending stair leading from the platform downward to the lower deck in the direction of the length of the car, and an ascending stair leading upward from the platform to the upper deck in the direction of the width of the car.

2. A ear'having upper and lower decks or platforms, the upper deck being extended forward to form a motormans platform, a seat platform arranged above said deck and terminating short of both ends of the. car, entrance platforms arranged on each side of the car at points below the upper deck, ascending stairs leading from the entrance platform to the upper deck in a direction transverse of the car, and descending stairs leading from the entrance platform to the lower deck and in a direction longitudinally of the car.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

BENJAMIN J. LESLIE.

Witnesses AUGUST J. AUsTnnLAnn, JOHN J. LALLEY. 

